Bank of America Q3 2026 Earnings: $1.2B AML Charge vs. Outlook

Bank of America reported third-quarter 2026 net income of $6.9 billion, or $0.91 a share, on Oct. 14, after booking a $1.2 billion non-tax-deductible charge for the anti-money-laundering penalties announced by FinCEN and the OCC on Oct. 13. Excluding that charge, the bank put earnings at $8.1 billion, or $1.08 a share, according to the earnings release in its 8-K.

TL;DR

• Results: Revenue rose 3% to $30.0 billion and net interest income (NII) 8% to $16.4 billion; sales and trading fell 5%.
• Against July: The bank expected 2026 NII growth at the upper end of 6% to 8% and operating leverage of 300 to 400 basis points. Through September, NII was up about 8.7% and operating leverage, excluding the charge, about 1.8 points (our arithmetic).
• The penalty: FinCEN’s $1.2 billion credits a $750 million OCC penalty; OFAC added an $11.66 million sanctions settlement. Treasury puts the total at more than $1.21 billion, and the bank admits willful Bank Secrecy Act violations in the FinCEN order.

See also our big-bank Q3 preview, JPMorgan’s Q3 vs. its July outlook, BofA’s earnings page and the Q3 2026 earnings hub.

What did Bank of America report for Q3 2026?

	3Q26	3Q25
Net income	$6.9 billion	$8.3 billion
Diluted EPS	$0.91	$1.04
Adjusted net income / EPS (non-GAAP)	$8.1 billion / $1.08	—
Revenue, net of interest expense	$30.0 billion	$29.0 billion
Net interest income	$16.4 billion	$15.2 billion
Noninterest expense (adjusted non-GAAP in parentheses)	$19.7 billion ($18.5 billion)	$17.3 billion
CET1 ratio (standardized)	10.9%	11.6%

FICC trading revenue fell 17% to $2.6 billion, mainly in mortgages, municipals and credit; equities rose 11% to $2.5 billion. Reuters reported that adjusted EPS of $1.08 missed the $1.10 analysts expected, per LSEG.

The credit card charge-off rate was 3.22%, against 3.55% in the second quarter and 3.46% a year earlier. The bank returned $8.3 billion to shareholders, including $6.0 billion of buybacks, the same buyback total as in the second quarter.

How do the results compare with what BofA said in July?

On the July 14 call, CFO Alastair Borthwick said: “We now expect full year 2026 NII growth to be at the upper end of that 6% to 8% range.” That assumed modest second-half loan and deposit growth and a forward curve with one 25-basis-point hike in September. He also said the bank expected “full-year operating leverage to be in the range of 300 to 400 basis points.” The bank defines operating leverage as revenue growth minus noninterest expense growth.

Topic	What BofA said earlier	What the Q3 filing shows
2026 NII growth	July: expected upper end of 6%–8%	9 months (FTE): $48.7B vs. $44.8B, up about 8.7% (our arithmetic)
2026 operating leverage	July: expected 300–400 bp	9 months: about −0.4 points as reported; about +1.8 points excluding the $1.2B charge (our arithmetic)
Sales and trading	September: relatively flat, Reuters reported	$5.1B, down 5%
Investment banking fees	September: down at least 10%, Reuters reported	$1.8B, down 11%

The July figure is for the full year, so the fourth quarter is still to come. In the third quarter alone, revenue rose 3% and adjusted expense 7%, though adjusted expense fell 1% from the second quarter on lower revenue-related and marketing costs.

Reuters reported that BofA expects NII to improve sequentially in the fourth quarter and anticipates NII growth of 8% or more in 2027. The bank had not posted the call transcript on its investor relations site when we last checked at 11:51 a.m. ET on Oct. 14, so those figures rest on Reuters’ report, which does not say where BofA gave them.

Who fined Bank of America, and how does the $1.2 billion add up?

Headlines such as CNBC’s “Bank of America fined $1.2 billion” describe one penalty that contains another. All three actions came from U.S. Treasury units on Oct. 13, each against Bank of America, N.A.:

	FinCEN	OCC	OFAC
Amount	$1.2 billion, crediting the OCC’s $750 million	$750 million civil money penalty	$11,662,930 settlement
Admission	Admits willful BSA violations (civil sense)	Neither admits nor denies	Settles “potential civil liability”
Period	Jan. 1, 2018 to July 1, 2025	Findings cite activity since at least 2019	Sept. 18, 2021 to April 24, 2025

FinCEN “has agreed to credit” the OCC payment, so the bank pays $450 million to Treasury under the FinCEN order. With OFAC, that makes Treasury’s “more than $1.21 billion.” Treasury says the actions include the third-largest penalty in its history; the OCC calls its $750 million the largest in OCC history. The FinCEN order notes that civil willfulness needs only “reckless disregard or willful blindness,” and the bank admits willfulness only in that civil sense.

What did regulators find, and what do the orders require?

FinCEN says gaps in the bank’s proprietary monitoring system meant more than $5 billion of suspicious activity went unreported or was reported late. The order puts roughly $1 billion of it (elsewhere it says over $1 billion) in national security and other priority categories, including transactions that pointed to Chinese money laundering networks, fraud, and possible trade-based laundering with a substantial link to the southwest border. Treasury says the bank relied on law enforcement inquiries and other banks’ requests to the point that it “effectively outsourced” a substantial portion of its detection and reporting obligations.

The OCC found that from 2019 to 2023 internal reports showed the bank not filing SARs on about 18% to 44% of potentially suspicious activity that had not been referred for investigation, depending on the year. The bank is still under the cease-and-desist order it signed on Dec. 23, 2024, and the OCC says that after signing it the bank “did not complete many of the significant steps” needed for an effective program.

OFAC counted 475 apparent violations worth about $14.8 million, including Russia and Iran programs, and gave no reduction to the base penalty.

The FinCEN order requires a SAR lookback by an independent consultant, covering activity from January 2022. The final report is due within 18 months of a scope report and no later than December 2028, and the bank must file the resulting SARs within 90 days. Separate reviews cover monitoring, customer due diligence, foreign correspondent accounts and data governance. The OCC reserves the right to more penalties if violations continue or go uncorrected, and its order says it does not resolve actions by other agencies, naming the Justice Department.

What did Bank of America say?

The release says the bank recorded the $1.2 billion “to accrue for the civil money penalties resulting from the regulatory consent orders.” In its June-quarter 10-Q, the bank had said resolving the OCC order or other inquiries “may include the payment of monetary penalties.”

In a statement quoted by the AP, the bank said: “Financial crime compliance is serious, and we are responsible for getting it right.” CNBC reported the bank said remediation costs are already in its current expense base. Reuters reported Borthwick told analysts: “There’s no asset cap here. It won’t crowd out anything.” For a similar case from the week before, see the $350 million Amex penalty.

What could go right / what could go wrong

What could go right

• NII was up about 8.7% through September, and Reuters reported the bank expects fourth-quarter NII to improve.
• Card charge-offs fell to 3.22%, and the CFO said there is no asset cap (per Reuters).

What could go wrong

• Nine-month operating leverage excluding the charge, about 1.8 points (our arithmetic), compares with the 300–400 basis points expected in July for the full year.
• The FinCEN lookback report is due by December 2028 at the latest, with the resulting SARs due within 90 days after it, and the OCC kept the right to further penalties if violations continue.

FAQ

Q How much did Bank of America earn in Q3 2026?

A Net income was $6.9 billion, or $0.91 a share, against $8.3 billion, or $1.04, a year earlier. Excluding the $1.2 billion regulatory settlement charge, the bank put it at $8.1 billion, or $1.08 a share.

Q Why was Bank of America fined $1.2 billion?

A FinCEN said the bank failed to report more than $5 billion of suspicious transactions on time between 2018 and mid-2025, roughly $1 billion of it tied to national security and other priority risks. The bank admitted willful Bank Secrecy Act violations in the civil sense.

Q Is the OCC's $750 million on top of the $1.2 billion?

A No. FinCEN's $1.2 billion credits the $750 million paid to the OCC, so the bank pays $450 million more under the FinCEN order. With OFAC's $11.66 million settlement, Treasury puts the total at more than $1.21 billion.

Q Did Bank of America change its net interest income outlook?

A In July it expected 2026 NII growth at the upper end of 6% to 8%; NII was up about 8.7% through September. Reuters reported that the bank expects fourth-quarter NII to improve sequentially and anticipates 2027 NII growth of 8% or more.